All-Star Saturday night isn’t the headlining night of All-Star Weekend, but it might be the most fun-filled one. And this might have been the most fun one we’ve seen in years. Almost every event was exciting — and that’s rare!
NBA scores 2018: All-Star Saturdays are still undefeated, and 11 things you might have missed from Saturday night
Donovan Mitchell won the dunk contest with a Vince Carter tribute.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Devin Booker actually broke a three-point contest record with his 28-point final performance. Spencer Dinwiddie came from behind as an underdog in the skills competition and won the whole thing. Donovan Mitchell won the dunk contest by a point! And he didn’t even have the best dunk!
The All-Star Game tomorrow is going to be fun, and the court is going to be filled with the most talented players from around the league. They’re going to play a pretty entertaining exhibition game, and it’s going to be exciting to see the way certain players play together.
But give me Saturday night over any of that any day. It’s the best event of the weekend, and it held up to that billing last night.
Dennis Smith Jr. feels like he should’ve won the dunk contest
He might have a point? Smith missed his first couple of attempts on his first dunk and ended up hitting a double pump to get a score of 39. That’s a pretty solid score for a solidly impressive dunk.
But Victor Oladipo didn’t even complete his first attempt, and he got a 31. That makes absolutely no sense. Smith told us about it on Twitter:
That’s how he ended up taking an L despite having the best dunk of the night. Tough luck, rook. Maybe next year?
Nate Robinson is not playing games with Charles Barkley
BRING NATE BACK INTO THE NBA. WE NEED HIM.
Barkley called Robinson short, and he wasn’t having it at all:
“You lucky I wasn’t in the league with you. I would’ve dunked on your ass,” Robinson said. Tell him, Nate.
We’re not sure how Donovan Mitchell won with this dunk
OK, we know the contest is purely based on aesthetics. And by that measure, Mitchell should’ve won. And his dunks were actually pretty solid! But I’m just not here for this Vince Carter dunk:
You can’t put on a Carter jersey and give us a 2-cent version of a Carter dunk. You don’t get a 50 for that around here, slim. We’ve got to judge these dunks better, man. Get DJ Khaled outta here.
His shoes fire though:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
More
- Larry Nance Jr. was ROBBED!
- LeBron James will never shut up and dribble and we love it.
- Paul George was a terrible three-point contest participant, but so was Michael Jordan.
- Dennis Smith Jr. should’ve scored 100 on this dunk.
- Kobe and Shaq talked about their time together in L.A., and it was good.
- Adam Silver is still conflicted on the one-and-done rule.
- LOL JOEL EMBIID. YOUR TAG IS SHOWING
Winners!
- Donovan Mitchell won the dunk contest.
- Devin Booker won the three-point shootout.
- Spencer Dinwiddie won the skills challenge.
It’s clear that Donovan Mitchell is a star
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